Elections Statute
1. This statute describes elections procedures.
2. There are two types of election: Council elections and referendums.
All elections must be prominently advertised to eligible voters.
2a. The voting period is 7 days. All MOO-wide votes are secret.
Voters should be able to change their votes until the end
of the voting period. The list of voters who have cast votes
should be available as the election progresses.
3. Council elections are held to fill vacant seats on Council.
Dates of Council elections should be fixed at least 12 days before the
scheduled end of voting.
3a. Nominations for Council must be open for 5 days prior to the start
of voting. A nomination for Council must have the support of 3
people; one of these people must be the nominee herself.
3b. Once nominations have closed, voting starts. The method of voting
used for Council elections is approval voting; a list of candidates is
made available, and each voter may approve or not approve each
candidate. Voters must be able to write in candidates who are not
nominated. The candidates with the most votes win; in the event of a
draw, a run-off election is held for those positions in which there
was a tie.
3c. Council Terms: A Councillor's term is 6 months. This term begins
as soon as the elections period is closed. When more than 3 seats
are vacant, some Councillors will be elected for shorter terms. If
there are 4 or 5 vacant seats, then 2 seats will be for 6-month
terms; the others will have 4-month terms. When 6 or 7 seats are
vacant, then 2 seats are for 6-month terms, 2 for 4-month terms, and
the rest are for 2-month terms.
The terms are awarded by ranking the winning candidates in order of
votes received, and then assigning the longest term to the
highest-ranked winner and continuing until the shortest term is
assigned to the lowest-ranked winner.
4. The Constitution provides methods for initiating a referendum.
Referendums must be posed as questions with discrete options
available. There must be 10 days between the initial announcement of
referendum and the end of voting. Between the initial announcement
and the start of voting, options with the support of 3 voters shall be
added to the ballot.
Practical details: Nominations for Council elections are to be posted to
the *council newsgroup. To nominate someone, or to support a nomination,
send a message indicating this to *council.
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